Confabulation
by HauntedMoonlight
Summary: "So you're saying I'm married to Sasuke, he loves me, and we have a kid?" Sakura had never been a good actress, but now was as good a time as any to learn. SasuSaku
1. one: coming home

**A/N: **I'm back…yay? With yet another new attempt at starting a series lol. I haven't been on this site for quite a while but I actually recently suffered this break-up of sorts that inspired me to read/write/do something to get my mind off things so yeah… Sorry for venting, it's just I don't really have anyone to talk to in real life because most of my friends are also his friends and it's so fucking complicated so uh lets get to the story!

**Title**: Confabulation

**Summary: **"So you're saying I'm married to Sasuke, he loves me, and we have a kid?" Sakura had never been a good actress. Now was as good a time as any to learn. SasuSaku

**Rating**: T+, I'll put it as M for language/sexual content/possible violence

**Pairings**: Main: SasuSaku. Mild NaruHina, InoSai, NejiTen, etc

**Disclaimer: **Naruto isn't mine.

_Enjoy and review!_

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**one: coming home**

They came back on a dusty night, silhouettes in the full moon. Two boys, not even men yet. One on the back of the other. If you were to bear witness, you would've said that the moment was beautiful-two brothers, framed by pale moonlight. Yet in that moment, Sakura saw no beauty in the crimson leaking from the unconscious boy's body and the broken spirit in the other's azure eyes.

"Is he..." She couldn't say the words, she couldn't bear to hear the answer.

"He's alive, Sakura." Naruto murmured.

A thousand burdens lifted from her shoulders. "_Thank god_... Naruto, I..."

He smiled, but his eyes remained shadowed. "You can thank me after we get to the hospital."

"Of course," she replied, medic mode switched on. She stepped forward to lend Naruto a hand, allowing her to see his passenger properly for the first time in...how many years?

_Five years. _

He was the same as ever, raven hair and ivory skin. His hair retained its infamous chicken-butt shape. Yet she couldn't help but observe the transformations that came with age and experience: the sharpening of his jaw, the prominence of his cheekbones, the furrow in his brow. The bags under his eyes. She wondered how many sleepless nights he had thrashed through, plagued by nightmares and reflections and murdered dreams. Her heart tightened.

_Not now, Sakura_, she reminded herself. Instead she steeled herself and put one of Sasuke's limp arms around her shoulder so that the unconscious Uchiha was propped between her and Naruto and turned in the direction of Konoha Ninja Hospital.

No sooner had Tsunade exited the operating room than the questions bombarded her.

"What's his condition?" "Is he alright?" "Why's he back?" "Can we see him?"

"How is he?" Sakura quietly asked from beside the overwhelmed Godaime. She had been too frightened to operate on her teammate-turned-rogue, instead leaving the task to her mentor. However, her trust in her sensei had done nothing to alleviate her nerves.

"He'll live." The older woman hesitated. "But..."

"But?"

Tsunade sighed. "It's nothing big, not really." _Hopefully, _she added to herself.

Sakura bit her lip. "Sensei-" She began. She hated to pester Tsunade like this because she'd learned to respect the hokage's decisions—they usually turned out okay in the end—but this, this was different. She knew it, and she knew Tsunade knew it too.

"Meet me in my office in ten minutes," the Godaime interrupted wearily. "I'll explain everything then."

The pinkette nodded. "Hai."

-oOoOo-

"Here." Tsunade handed her star pupil the large tome she had been scouring her bookshelf for. "Read this."

"What?"

"Read it."

Sakura glanced at the faded leather cover. Confabulation, it read in rusty gold cursive. "Sensei, what does this have to do with Sasuke?"

"Right now, it has everything to do with him." Tsunade sighed. "Do you know what it is?"

"Pardon?"

"Confabulation. What is it?"

Her student shrugged. "It sounds familiar, I might've seen it mentioned before. Something like amnesia?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Confabulation," she recited in her teaching voice, "is a memory disturbance, defined as the production of fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive."

"And you're saying Sasuke has this condition?"

Tsunade shrugged. "It's what I've diagnosed him with, yes."

"How?"

"Just read it, Sakura, please. You'll get answers, I promise. But in due time."

Sakura frowned. She wanted answers desperately, but if this book was really that important... "Alright."

"Thank you." Tsunade smiled. "Try to get through most of it tonight, if possible."

The pinkette looked doubtfully at the 700-page volume. "_Tonight? _Why?"

"Because tomorrow, I'm taking you to see Sasuke."

-oOoOo-

The clock read 4:32 by the time she reached the 697th page, her eyes heavy with sleep. Confabulation really was a curious condition with an even curiouser name. It seemed to be like living in a dream. To fantasize an entire world into a reality... She shook her head. Sakura couldn't imagine such a thing happening, especially not to Sasuke. What was there for him to fantasize? Surely nothing good. Only death, pain, darkness.

What if he's gone insane? Her heart prickled with fear at her inner consciousness's words. What if he doesn't recognize me? Or worse, what if he recognizes me with hatred in his eyes? What if he sees me as an enemy, to be disposed of? What then?

Sakura almost laughed at herself. What did she expect, Sasuke enjoying being dragged back to the village he hated? By the best friend he hated? To the yearning teammate he hated?

As if.

She sighed, set her alarm to 6am (two whole hours of sleep!), and closed her eyes.

-oOoOo-

"How are you feeling?" Tsunade regarded her student with worried eyes. The pink-haired medic looked...sleep-deprived to say the least, with dark circles under her eyes and a pale undertone.

"I'm fine," Sakura replied. "Didn't get much sleep, that's all."

The Godaime felt a pinch of sympathy for her poor pupil; not for her lack of sleep, but for what would be thrust upon her in just a few minutes. They were walking through the fluorescent hospital hallways now, weaving between nurses in scrubs and bereaved visitors. The farther into the hospital they journeyed, the sparser the halls became. At last, they approached a final hallway that ended in a single room.

The entrance was guarded by two masked ANBU and multiple keypads. The door itself was reinforced steel, tall and intimidating. The ANBU nodded at the two women, their hands retracting from the grips of their katanas. "Hokage-sama, Haruno-sama."

Sakura nodded back nervously as Tsunade typed something into a keypad and swiped a card through another. The door swung open with a loud creak that echoed noisily into the hall behind them. Sakura almost jumped at the sudden noise. _God, I'm as skittish as a frightened kitten, _she chastened herself. _Calm down, Sakura._

"After you," her sensei said, moving aside.

As Sakura stepped into the room, the first thing she noticed was the large cotton cot. The second thing she noticed was Tsunade's unreadable gaze. And the last thing she noticed was the tall, raven-haired boy staring at her with warm onyx orbs.

* * *

**A/N: **Wow, wonder who that is, huh?

Tell me if you like it/think I should continue, because this is kind of like a trial for me. If it doesn't get much response I'll delete it, since I have a League of Legends fanfic to work on too sigh :/ So yeah, please review and tell me if this is continue-able haha thanks!


	2. two: playing charades

**A/N: **I really shouldn't be doing this since I have like three other stories I'm currently procrastinating on ugh… But it seems people like this story and I like this story, so we'll see where it goes from here, I guess :D

Ty for all the sweet reviews, btw! I love you guys hehe!

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**two: playing charades**

"Sakura!"

"Sasuke?" Sakura's eyes widened as the Uchiha leaped towards her, embracing her in a tight hug. She could feel her cheeks flushing and her arms unconsciously reaching up to hug him back.

"I was so worried, babe. They wouldn't let me see you, no matter how much I asked. They even put me in this...cell." Sasuke scowled at the windowless room, but his eyes softened when he gazed back down at Sakura.

_What the hell? _She shot Tsunade a look that begged for help.

"Lend me your wife for a second, please, Sasuke." Tsunade butted in before Sasuke could reply.

Wife? Sakura paled.

"Hurry up," the Uchiha pouted-that's right, pouted-retracting his arms from Sakura and letting the Godaime lead her into the hallway.

As soon as they were a safe distance from Sasuke's ears, Tsunade began murmuring. "Now you get the confabulation part?"

Sakura shook her head. "I have no idea what's going on."

"Alright, I'll keep this short for now, before loverboy starts getting antsy." Tsunade sighed. "Basically, for reasons unknown, Sasuke is experiencing a confabulation right now, where he thinks a dream life is actual reality. In this confabulation, he never left the village to seek revenge for his family; instead, his clan died in a freak accident. The two of you are apparently married and have been for three years. You are both 21, live at the Uchiha manor, and are accomplished ANBU commanders. And you have a child, a young daughter. Uchiha Sayuri. He calls her his 'little lily' as she is named after the lilies he bought you on your first date. He's quite the romantic."

Sakura blushed. She couldn't help but admit that that life sounded perfect. But it wasn't reality, she reminded herself. "How do you know all this?"

"It was pretty much all the info we could get out of him. We pretended we needed to ask questions to make sure he didn't have memory loss after his accident."

"Accident?"

Tsunade nodded. "For now, we're pretending he fell off a cliff during a mission and hit his head."

"So what are we going to do?" Sakura looked up, catching Sasuke staring at her with a boyish grin. She smiled back and waved, and in return he blew a kiss. Her heart skipped a beat.

Tsunade watched this exchange amusedly, but she looked at Sakura solemnly. "Sakura," she began hesitantly. "I know this is a lot to ask, and I understand if you refuse, but please consider."

"Consider what?"

"I-We want you to keep up the confabulation, basically. Pretend to be who you are in his dream. Just for now, until we figure out what to do."

"Who's 'we'?" Sakura blinked.

"Me, Kakashi, Naruto...basically anyone who will have regular contact with Sasuke when his return is made public. They have all been informed of this condition."

"We can't just tell Sasuke the truth?"

Tsunade shook her head. "That would make things a lot simpler, wouldn't it? But no, we cannot. For one thing, it is dangerous to do so. It is very likely he suffered internal brain damage somehow, leading to his confabulation. Telling him this can cause him to go into shock, which can cause his brain to shut down, killing him. And even if he doesn't go into shock, we don't know how he will respond. His confabulation-self has a very agreeable personality, which I find preferable to a volatile Sasuke."

"Fair enough," Sakura allowed. She would not run the risk of Sasuke dying. And truth be told, this Sasuke did seem a lot sweeter than his usual prickly self. "I'll do it, I guess. How long?" While she was fully willing to play the part of Sasuke's wife, she did have other responsibilities-as a ninja, friend, and head medic at Konoha Ninja Hospital.

"Well, we definitely hope this is temporary. You'll still have time to do most of your duties, but you'll be excused from whatever's necessary." Tsunade paused. "In the meantime, you'll be living at Uchiha Manor. I've already had your things moved over. We'll play this charade with a full deck." The Godaime glanced behind her at Sasuke, who was now pacing his room anxiously and shooting mildly annoyed looks at her back. "Alright, you can ask questions later. For now, you'll have to get back to your husband. Good luck."

"I'll need it." Sakura swallowed nervously before walking back into the room. "Sorry, Sasuke. Tsunade was just telling me about your accident."

"I can't believe I fell," Sasuke frowned. "I must look so uncool to you."

Sakura giggled despite herself. "You know I'll always be your biggest fan."

Sasuke's cheeks reddened. Sakura gaped at the rare sight. Sasuke, blushing? No way.

"And I'll be yours," Sasuke promised, taking her hand. The gesture, so simple, brought Sakura to the point of tears. She bit her lip, trying to keep the liquid pooling in her eyelids at bay. However, that didn't keep the ever observant Uchiha from noticing them.

"What's wrong, love?" He asked, worry in his earnest onyx eyes.

"I..." Sakura sniffled. "I was just so scared," she finally said, and the words weren't false. She really had been scared. "Of losing you. I thought you were dead. I thought I'd never see you again."

"Oh, Sakura." He murmured, tucking a strand of pink behind her ear. "You know I would never leave the two most important people in my life alone. I'll always be there for you and Sayuri."

Sayuri! Sakura's emerald orbs widened. She could fake being his wife, yes, but how was she to fake a daughter? I'll have to ask Tsunade later, she determined. But for now...

"Thank you, Sasuke." She whispered.

"I love you," he replied simply, kissing the top of her head.

Sakura buried her face into his chest so that Sasuke couldn't see the guilt scribbled across it. Even though she knew it was necessary, deceiving him felt so wrong. And so did the words that fell from her lips, words she wasn't sure were true or not anymore.

"I love you too."

-oOoOo-

"So how was it?"

They were congregated in Tsunade's small office in the Hokage Tower, all fourof them: Tsunade, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi. The clock behind Tsunade's desk read 9pm, but Sakura was already thoroughly exhausted. She had spent the day with Sasuke, fielding his questions and trying to keep up. Finally at her limit, she had escaped by convincing him he needed sleep to recover and promised to be back bright and early the next day.

"I don't know if I can do this," Sakura confessed.

"That bad?" Tsunade frowned.

"No, it's not him, it's me. It's just... I feel so guilty. Because it's not real, and he's going to find out eventually, and when he does..." She trailed off.

It was Naruto's turn to frown. "I'm sorry, Sakura, we shouldn't have asked you to do this. It's too much."

Kakashi nodded. "Maybe we should look for alternative solutions."

Sakura paused. She was tempted to agree with her team, but she shook her head. "It's fine, I shouldn't have said anything."

"But Sakura..."

"No, really," she affirmed. "I'm not that weak little girl anymore, Naruto. I can handle this. It's not like this will last forever."

If she had looked towards Tsunade at that moment, she might've seen the look of discomfort flash through her sensei's eyes. But Sakura's gaze remained focused and the moment passed, something that many parties would come to regret later on. For now, however, the conversation resumed.

"Did you find out anything new?" Tsunade asked, pen and paper in hand.

"Ummm." Sakura recalled her conversations with Sasuke. "I asked about our, uh, daughter. Sayuri. She's two. He adores her. I've been meaning to ask this, actually."

"Hm?"

"How are we going to pull Sayuri off?"

"What do you mean?"

"He really wants to see her. For now I told him she was staying with 'Uncle' Naruto while I took care of him but he's going to have to see his daughter eventually." Sakura flushed; she was speaking as if they actually had a daughter to see!

Tsunade and Kakashi exchanged glances before the latter cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We were meaning to tell you, Sakura…"

"Remember how we'd extracted some of Madara's DNA for testing and experimenting purposes?"

"Yes…" Sakura did _not _like where this was going.

"A few years ago we, uh, developed a way of sorts to clone Uchiha DNA. It's not perfect, of course, but for the most part we were able to create a fully functioning, living, breathing, thinking, Sharingan-eyed organism in the form of a human child who just so happens to be female."

"What the fuck?!" Naruto yelled. Apparently, Sakura hadn't been the only one who did not know about this. "And you didn't tell us this?"

"It was kind of top-level clearance," Kakashi replied apologetically. "Only a handful of people know, including Tsunade, the Elders, and some select jounin/ANBU such as myself. And now you two, of course."

"How many years ago are we talking about here?" Sakura asked.

"About three," her sensei replied. "But she can pass for a tenacious two-year-old, I suppose."

Sakura blinked. This was almost _too _convenient. Even Naruto looked suspicious. But she wasn't really in the mood to question it, and if the shoe fit… "That works, I guess," she conceded.

"Anything else?" Tsunade said, scribbling something down on her notepad.

The pinkette shook her head. "I just want to get some sleep," she confessed, rubbing her eyes as if that could quell her raging headache. "Sasuke expects me back at seven tomorrow."

The Godaime nodded sympathetically. "Get some rest."

"Yeah, get some rest Sakura!" Naruto echoed enthusiastically. His next words, however, were a lot more heartfelt. "It'll be okay."

Sakura nodded. _I hope so._

* * *

**A/N: **As promised, here's chapter 2! :)

Enjoy and review!


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